California DA charges police detective with perjury, bribery

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area prosecutor announced Tuesday that her office had filed perjury and bribery charges against a longtime Oakland homicide detective.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Y. Price filed two felony counts against Phong Tran, saying that he lied under oath during a murder trial in 2016 and at a preliminary hearing in 2014. He was also charged with felony bribery and attempted bribery of a witness.

Price said in a statement that her office will need to review at least 125 homicide cases in which Tran investigated. “Lying and manipulating a witness are serious violations of the public trust,” she said.

Price was elected to office in November on a progressive platform of holding police officers to account and seeking rehabilitation for criminal suspects over incarceration.

The charges drew a blistering response from the Oakland Police Officers Association, which said Tran had been cleared of wrongdoing in previous investigations by the police and former district attorney.

Tran’s attorney, Andrew M. Ganz, said in a separate statement that the “DA treats murderers like heroes,” but treats “real heroes” like criminals.

The prosecutor’s office said in the statement that Tran lied about his relationship with a key witness that resulted in two men being convicted in the 2011 murder of Charles Butler. Tran had denied under oath knowing the witness, but the prosecutor’s office says he had provided the witness with cash and asked the witness to testify against the two defendants.

The convictions were vacated last year.